On Saturday, #11 Stanford baseball fell to #16 Arizona on the road by a final score of 3-2. Sophomore right-handed pitcher TJ Nichols (3-0) picked up the win for the Wildcats while sophomore right-handed pitcher Trevor Long picked up the save. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Tommy O’Rourke (0-3) was awarded the loss for Stanford. Arizona improves to 14-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 9-6 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12.
Through the first two innings, there wasn’t a lot of action as both starting pitchers TJ Nichols and Alex Williams were in the zone for their respective teams on the mound. No runs were scored and while both pitchers did allow guys to get on base, neither team was able to gain any momentum on offense.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Nichols made quick work of Stanford as left fielder Eddie Park flied out to center field, 2nd baseman Tommy Troy grounded out to short stop, and short stop Adam Crampton grounded out to short stop as well. It was in the bottom of the inning that things finally started to get interesting. And not in a good way for Stanford.
Arizona 2nd baseman Tyler Casagrande grounded out to second base in the opening at-bat. Then, 3rd baseman Garen Caulfield singled to center field followed by short stop Nik McClaughry, who got walked, advancing Caulfield to second base. After that, catcher Daniel Susac got hit by a pitch to load up the bases. Following a pitch that got past Stanford catcher Kody Huff, Susac would advance to second base and McLaughry would advance to third while Caulfield made an attempt to come home. In an incredible play, Huff would flip the ball to Williams who rushed home plate in time to get Caulfield out. This was all during right fielder Tanner O’Tremba’s second at-bat. After Caulfield got out, O’Tremba would ground out to first base unassisted to end the inning.
In the top of the 4th inning, after getting out of a jam in the bottom of the 3rd, Stanford got their bats going after centerfielder Brock Jones struck out in his second at-bat of the game. 3rd baseman Drew Bowser then hit a double after which Brett Barrera got hit by a pitch to get on base. With two men on base, first baseman Carter Graham would hit a single up the middle to drive in Bowser and advance Barrera to third base, giving Stanford a 1-0 lead. Stanford wouldn’t add any more runs as Huff grounded into a double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, there wasn’t a lot of action for Arizona as only designated hitter Tony Bullard got a hit, hitting a single. Aside from that, nobody was able to get on base or advance him further, making it a pretty quiet inning.
In the top of the 5th inning, Stanford got two outs pretty fast as right fielder Braden Montgomery fouled out to left field and Eddie Park flied out to center field. Tommy Troy would then hit a triple, getting in scoring position and giving Stanford some life. However, he wouldn’t be driven home as Crampton struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, Alex Williams made quick work of the Arizona lineup as Casagrande struck out looking, Caulfield struck out swinging, and McLaughry popped up to second base.
In the top of the 6th inning, Brock Jones finally did something he hadn’t done all season long: He hit a home run. It was the first at-bat of the inning and this extended Stanford’s lead 2-0. That would be the only offense Stanford would generate in the inning as Bowser, Barrera, and Graham all struck out.
The bottom of the 6th was really quiet for Arizona as Susac grounded out to short stop, O’Tremba struck out swinging, and left fielder Chase Davis struck out swinging.
Entering the top of the 7th inning, Stanford was up 2-0. They just needed to finish strong. Unfortunately for Stanford, this is where things started to come unglued for them.
In the top of the 7th, Huff popped up to second base and Montgomery flied out to left field for two quick outs. Park would hit a double to right center, but it wouldn’t result in any runs as Troy grounded out to second base to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 7th, Arizona got in a similar two out hole as 1st baseman Tommy Splaine popped up to second base and Bullard flied out to right field. Things would go differently though as center fielder Mac Bingham hit a single up the middle before stealing second base to get in scoring position. Thanks to a throwing error, Casagrande would get on base and Bingham would score an unearned run, making it a 2-1 game. Casagrande would get caught stealing second to end the inning.
After Stanford was unable to generate any runs in the top of the 8th inning as Crampton, Jones, and Bowser all failed to get on base, Arizona entered the bottom of the 8th hoping to take the lead or at least tie up the game. Joey Dixon came in to pitch for Williams and did not have the kind of outing that he was hoping to have. Caulfield got things going with a double to right center before McLaughry popped up to second base. It was at this point that O’Rourke came in to pitch.
O’Rourke wouldn’t do a whole lot better as Susac would get on base thanks to a throwing error. After that, O’Tremba singled to right field, advancing Susac to second base and driving home Caulfield to tie up the game. Davis would then line out to left field for the second out. With two outs, Splaine had a clutch single to third base which drove in Susac after a throwing error. Splaine also advanced to second and O’Tremba advanced to third as a result of the error. It was now a 3-2 Arizona lead. In the next at-bat Bullard would ground out to short stop to end the inning.
In the top of the 9th inning down 3-2, Stanford needed to respond and they almost did. Barrera singled up the middle to get things going, forcing an Arizona pitching change. Then Graham hit a single, advancing Owen Cobb to second base who was pinch running for Barrera. Thanks to a wild pitch, Graham advanced to second base and Cobb advanced to third base. Now it was getting interesting. Unfortunately for Stanford, things wouldn’t get any more interesting from there as Huff grounded to short stop before Austin Kretzschmar, who was pinch hitting for Braden Montgomery, flied out to center field, resulting in Cobb being out at the plate to end the game. 3-2 Arizona survived.
During Huff’s ground out to short stop, Cobb could have come home to tie up the game, but for whatever reason he pulled back. That’s a moment Stanford wishes they could have back. Not to mention the throwing errors that allowed Arizona to gain the lead in the first place.
For Stanford, this loss is really disappointing as they had the Wildcats right where they wanted them and they weren’t able to close it out. They once again find themselves in an 0-1 series hole only this time they’re on the road and it’s against a ranked team. Stanford will be lucky if they can pick up one win in this series. Two wins would feel like a miracle.
The two bright spots from this game for Stanford was the pitching of Alex Williams, who pitched 7.0 great innings with zero earned runs and Brock Jones finally getting a home run. That’s something they’ve been waiting for. Maybe now we’ll start to see the Brock Jones that we’ve been expecting to see. Those are two things that they should feel good about, but as a whole, they have to feel like they let one slip away here. Really a stinging loss.
At this point, all that Stanford can do is just hope to bounce back on Sunday and see if they can even this series up and put a little pressure on Arizona on Monday. Sunday’s game will begin at 12:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Arizona.
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